Hillary takes the floor

At about 11:15 a.m, Hillary Clinton took the floor, in electric blue, to deliver her farewell address to the Senate.

Clinton began by saying how "gratified" she was for her 16-1 approval by the Foreign Relations Committee earlier this morning.

Then, she thanked her colleagues, talking about her first months as New York's senator, reflecting on the horror of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, offering special thanks to Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), who told her "think of me as third senator from New York."

She also thanked her staff — and took the extraordinary, yet characteristic step, of entering their names and accomplishments in the public record.

Clinton also reflected on the widespread skepticism toward the former first lady when she first arrived as a celebrity senator in early 2001 — and admitted she had thought little of the Senate's work habits prior to taking office.

"I never understood, when I was at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, why the Senate took recesses all the time," adding that she quickly learned how intense its work periods actually were.